Making a mark may be easier

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Trademark law changed yesterday morning. Given the importance of brands, this development could be significant

Businesses fight bitter battles to protect their brands. As you read this, for example, Peter Brownlow, of the leading intellectual property experts Bird & Bird, is acting for the Rugby Football Union and the England team over a piece of ambush advertising that appeared in a magazine during the World Cup.

But, whoever wins the rugby competition in France, UK enterprise yesterday lost one of its traditional defences against potential rip-off. In a nutshell, the UK Intellectual Property Office, which has the responsibility for registering patents and trademarks, will no longer refuse a new trademark application on the ground that